Zadie Smith's White Teeth is a classic international bestseller and an unforgettable portrait of London One of the most talked about fictional debuts ever, White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book. "Funny, clever ...and a rollicking good read". (Independent). "An astonishingly assured debut, funny and serious...I was delighted". (Salman Rushdie). "The almost preposterous talent was clear from the first pages". (Julian Barnes, Guardian). "Quirky, sassy and wise ...a big, splashy, populous production reminiscent of books by Dickens and Salman Rushdie ...demonstrates both an instinctive storytelling talent and a fully fashioned voice that's street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time". (New York Times). "Smith writes like an old hand, and, sometimes, like a dream". (New Yorker). "Outstanding...A strikingly clever and funny book with a passion for ideas, for language and for the rich tragic-comedy of life". (Sunday Telegraph). "Do believe the hype". (The Times). "Relentlessly funny ...idiosyncratic, and deeply felt". (Guardian). Zadie Smith was born in north-west London in 1975. Her debut novel, White Teeth, won the Whitbread First Novel Award, the Guardian First Book Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, and the Commonwealth Writers' First Book Prize, and was included in Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Her second novel, On Beauty, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has written two further novels, The Autograph Man and NW, a collection of essays, Changing My Mind, and also edited a short-story anthology, The Book of Other People.

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Review:

Epic in scale and intimate in approach, White Teeth is a formidably ambitious debut. First novelist Zadie Smith takes on race, sex, class, history, and the minefield of gender politics, and such is her wit and inventiveness that these weighty subjects seem effortlessly light. She also has an impressive geographical range, guiding the reader from Jamaica to Turkey to Bangladesh and back again.

Still, the book's home base is a scrubby North London borough, where we encounter Smith's unlikely heroes: prevaricating Archie Jones and intemperate Samad Iqbal, who served together in the so-called Buggered Battalion during World War II. In the ensuing decades, both have gone forth and multiplied: Archie marries beautiful, bucktoothed Clara--who's on the run from her Jehovah's Witness mother--and fathers a daughter. Samad marries stroppy Alsana, who gives birth to twin sons. Here is multiculturalism in its most elemental form: "Children with first and last names on a direct collision course. Names that secrete within them mass exodus, cramped boats and planes, cold arrivals, medical checks."

Big questions demand boldly drawn characters. Zadie Smith's aren't heroic, just real: warm, funny, misguided, and entirely familiar. Reading their conversations is like eavesdropping. Even a simple exchange between Alsana and Clara about their pregnancies has a comical ring of truth: "A woman has to have the private things--a husband needn't be involved in body business, in a lady's... parts." And the men, of course, have their own involvement in bodily functions:

The deal was this: on January 1, 1980, like a New Year dieter who gives up cheese on the condition that he can have chocolate, Samad gave up masturbation so that he might drink. It was a deal, a business proposition, that he had made with God: Samad being the party of the first part, God being the sleeping partner. And since that day Samad had enjoyed relative spiritual peace and many a frothy Guinness with Archibald Jones; he had even developed the habit of taking his last gulp looking up at the sky like a Christian, thinking: I'm basically a good man.

Not all of White Teeth is so amusingly carnal. The mixed blessings of assimilation, for example, are an ongoing torture for Samad as he watches his sons grow up. "They have both lost their way," he grumbles. "Strayed so far from what I had intended for them. No doubt they will both marry white women called Sheila and put me in an early grave." These classic immigrant fears--of dilution and disappearance--are no laughing matter. But in the end, they're exactly what gives White Teeth its lasting power and undeniable bite. --Eithne FarryFrom the Back Cover:

“A preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that’s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time.”–Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“Brilliant…. Smith is a master at detail…a postmodern Charles Dickens…[Smith's] rich storytelling and wicked wit are suited to the sights and smells of the world that England has inherited.”– TheWashington Post

“[A] vibrant, rollicking first novel about race and idenity…[Smith's] prickly wit is affectionate and poignant.”– People

“[A] marvel of a debut novel. . .Reminscent of both Salman Rushdie and John Irving, White Teeth is a comic, canny, sprawling tale, adeptly held together by Smith's literary sleight of hand.”– Entertainment Weekly

"Ambitious, earnest and irreverent. . . Smith has a real talent for comedy and a fond eye for human foibles."– TheWall Street Journal

“Wonderful…. Zadie Smith…possesses a more than ordinary share of talent.”– USA Today

"Smith has an astonishing intellect. She writes sharp dialogue for every age and race— and she's funny as hell.”– Newsweek“[White Teeth] is, like the London it portrays, a restless hybrid of voices, tones, and textures…with a raucous energy and confidence.”– The New York Times Book Review

"Fresh…spirited…this extravagant novel bursts with optimism about people, about language, and perhaps, above all, about novels and the joy, indeed the impertinence, of writing one.”– The Philadelphia Inquirer

Book Description Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom, 2007. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 192 x 130 mm. Language: English Brand New Book. Zadie Smith s White Teeth is a classic international bestseller and an unforgettable portrait of London One of the most talked about fictional debuts ever, White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book. Funny, clever .and a rollicking good read . (Independent). An astonishingly assured debut, funny and serious.I was delighted . (Salman Rushdie). The almost preposterous talent was clear from the first pages . (Julian Barnes, Guardian). Quirky, sassy and wise .a big, splashy, populous production reminiscent of books by Dickens and Salman Rushdie .demonstrates both an instinctive storytelling talent and a fully fashioned voice that s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time . (New York Times). Smith writes like an old hand, and, sometimes, like a dream . (New Yorker). Outstanding.A strikingly clever and funny book with a passion for ideas, for language and for the rich tragic-comedy of life . (Sunday Telegraph). Do believe the hype . (The Times). Relentlessly funny .idiosyncratic, and deeply felt . (Guardian). Zadie Smith was born in north-west London in 1975. Her debut novel, White Teeth, won the Whitbread First Novel Award, the Guardian First Book Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, and the Commonwealth Writers First Book Prize, and was included in Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Her second novel, On Beauty, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has written two further novels, The Autograph Man and NW, a collection of essays, Changing My Mind, and also edited a short-story anthology, The Book of Other People. Bookseller Inventory # AAU9780140276336

Book Description Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom, 2007. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 192 x 130 mm. Language: English Brand New Book. Zadie Smith s White Teeth is a classic international bestseller and an unforgettable portrait of London One of the most talked about fictional debuts ever, White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book. Funny, clever .and a rollicking good read . (Independent). An astonishingly assured debut, funny and serious.I was delighted . (Salman Rushdie). The almost preposterous talent was clear from the first pages . (Julian Barnes, Guardian). Quirky, sassy and wise .a big, splashy, populous production reminiscent of books by Dickens and Salman Rushdie .demonstrates both an instinctive storytelling talent and a fully fashioned voice that s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time . (New York Times). Smith writes like an old hand, and, sometimes, like a dream . (New Yorker). Outstanding.A strikingly clever and funny book with a passion for ideas, for language and for the rich tragic-comedy of life . (Sunday Telegraph). Do believe the hype . (The Times). Relentlessly funny .idiosyncratic, and deeply felt . (Guardian). Zadie Smith was born in north-west London in 1975. Her debut novel, White Teeth, won the Whitbread First Novel Award, the Guardian First Book Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, and the Commonwealth Writers First Book Prize, and was included in Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Her second novel, On Beauty, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has written two further novels, The Autograph Man and NW, a collection of essays, Changing My Mind, and also edited a short-story anthology, The Book of Other People. Bookseller Inventory # AAU9780140276336

Book Description 2001. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 1st. 129mm x 198mm x 33mm. Paperback. Zadie Smith's White Teeth is a classic international bestseller and an unforgettable portrait of London One of the most talked about fictional debuts ever, White Teeth is a funny, generous.Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. 560 pages. 0.382. Bookseller Inventory # 9780140276336

Book Description Penguin, 2001. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Brand New Book. Shipping: Once your order has been confirmed and payment received, your order will then be processed. The book will be located by our staff, packaged and despatched to you as quickly as possible. From time to time, items get mislaid en route. If your item fails to arrive, please contact us first. We will endeavour to trace the item for you and where necessary, replace or refund the item. Please do not leave negative feedback without contacting us first. All orders will be dispatched within two working days. If you have any quesions please contact us. Bookseller Inventory # V9780140276336